South Jersey Assemblyman Paul Moriarty watches the dashboard camera video of his July 31, 2012, DWI arrest during a press conference, Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. The screening of the video came only days after Moriarty, a former Washington Township mayor, filed a 27-count criminal complaint against Washington Township Police Officer Joseph DiBuonaventura, accusing the officer of perjury, official misconduct and tampering with public records, among other complaints. He was indicted on those charges Wednesday. (Staff Photo by Lori M. Nichols/South Jersey Times)

A grand jury indicted Washington Township Police Officer Joseph DiBuonaventura on 14 criminal charges — including three counts of tampering with records, three counts of falsifying records, three counts of false swearing and five counts of official misconduct — on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Last fall, Moriarty filed 27 criminal complaints against the officer, 13 of which were found by a judge in Bridgeton to have probable cause and forwarded to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Officer. That part of the case was heard in Cumberland County to avoid any conflict of interest, since Moriarty holds public office in Gloucester.

DiBuonaventura, who earned a salary in the mid $90,000s, is currently suspended from the department without pay and will remain so until the charges are resolved, Captain Richard Leonard said Wednesday.

Each fourth-degree count of false swearing and falsifying records count could carry an 18-month jail sentence, and the third-degree count of tampering with records could result in up to 5 years in prison.

The most serious charges, the five counts of official misconduct, could carry a sentence of 5 to 10 years for each count, according to a release from Moriarty's office.

"I've said from the very first day that I did nothing wrong, this was an abuse of power, that I was hunted down, targeted and deprived of my civil rights, and I think that today the grand jury has validated what I've been saying all along," Moriarty said Thursday afternoon.

"I want to really thank the grand jurors — men and women from across a wide spectrum of Gloucester County citizens — who sat in judgement, listened to the evidence and said 'Yes, we believe these are criminal acts.' "

Moriarty, a former township mayor, said a dashboard camera recording taken from inside DiBuonaventura's own vehicle of the officer's pursuit and subsequent stop of the assemblyman was key to proving that the officer lied.

"In New Jersey, we need to move toward a system where all police cars that are used for traffic stops have these motor vehicle recorders. All of them. That's the only thing that was able to show I did nothing wrong that day," Moriarty said. "That was what allowed us to prove the lies of this police officer."

A representative from the law offices of attorney Yaron Helmer, who represents DiBuonaventura, declined to comment on the indictment.

Washington Township Business Administrator Bob Smith confirmed Tuesday that DiBuonaventura still owes the township $15,000 in unemployment payments stemming from another suspension. DiBuonaventura collected unemployment while he was suspended and then terminated from the department three years ago for allegedly lying during an internal affairs investigation. A judge ordered his reinstatement, however, and ordered the township to reimburse him for back pay on the condition that he returned the unemployment money.

Smith discovered earlier this year that DiBuonaventura had yet to reimburse the township. The township’s legal counsel is directed to be “forceful and aggressive” in collecting the debt, according to Smith's office.

What triggered the July 31 stop that resulted in Moriarty’s arrest, according to follow-up reports released to the media in January, was a phone call made by an employee at the Nissan dealership where Moriarty had been prior to the arrest.

Detective Martin Calvello, who was in the police department at the time, said he received a call from his cousin at Nissan. The cousin said his boss asked him to call Calvello after Moriarty had made the manager uncomfortable. The detective also said his cousin called back shortly to say that Moriarty left without incident.

Moriarty admitted that, while he was at the dealership to discuss the end of his car lease with Nissan, he confronted the general manager about the dealership employees' support for an independent political candidate who had previously opposed Moriarty.

First elected to the General Assembly in 2006, Moriarty served as township mayor from 2004 through 2008.

The telephoned information about Moriarty's confrontation at the dealership was overheard by township Detective Lisa Fratalli, who then told DiBuonaventura that she "overheard Detective Calvello talking to someone on the phone about Moriarty being drunk at Nissan," Fratalli wrote in an official statement.

In her report, Fratalli said she called DiBuonaventura back moments later, telling him she had "limited information" and did not instruct him to investigate.

One week after the incident, according to Fratalli, DiBuonaventura asked her to write a report stating she had sent him to Nissan that day. She declined his request.

Reports authored by DiBuonaventura give conflicting information on the reason for the stop and contradict statements he made to Moriarty during the stop, which was recorded by his dashboard camera.

The indictment specifically references DiBuonaventura's claims that Moriarty cut him off while patrolling Route 42 as false statements. The surveillance video from his police car shows DiBuonaventura waiting on a median for the assemblyman to pass and quickly reaching speeds of 80 miles per hour to reach Moriarty, who stayed in the right lane without changing lanes at any time.

As the case against DiBuonaventura moves ahead, Moriarty said he's looking forward to seeing the case resolved.

"I just want to see that justice is truly served, that this is adjudicated properly and my good name is restored, because I did nothing that day," Moriarty said. "On behalf of anyone who's ever been falsely accused, abused, or harassed, we're going to keep fighting."